NEWSDESK
drain TRADER
‘World beating’ skills made
available to tens of thousands Centre of Excellence combats Covid Crisis
Abreakthrough approach to training young peoplewas launched today, bringingworld class skills to tens of thousands of apprentices and students at colleges across theUK, in a game-changing development aimed at combating the economic impact of Covid - 19.
WorldSkillsUK, the education and skills charity, has joined forceswithNCFE, a leading provider of educational services, to use its unique insights in global skills systems and track record of training young people toworld- class standards at the ‘skills olympics’ to help more young people throughout theUK and their employers succeed.
Speaking at the Centre of Excellence’s national launch at Trafford College,DrNeil Bentley- GockmannOBE, CEOofWorldSkillsUK said:
“Make nomistake, this is amilestone moment. Governments have asked leaders in further education to fast track change and recalibrate to deliver a skills-led recovery andwe have answered the call.
“This is a radical newway ofworkingwith college leaders to bring global best practice to local economies and level up skills across the country – ensuring thatwe can embed international standards into training programmes and deliverwhat employers need in order to kick-start the economy.
“This is just the start – our ambition over the next three years is to lead theway in developing world-class skills and tackling vocational snobbery head on.Wewill be delivering higher quality training to createmore prestige for apprenticeships and technical qualifications for all young people, including in areas of social and economic disadvantage to help boost career aspirations and socialmobility.”
A teamof high-performance skills coaches,who have allworked at the highest international level, have been brought in to drive forward the programme.
Education SecretaryGavinWilliamson said: “We areworking to transformfurther education in this country. Covid-19 has had huge impact on the entire country particularly young people and the sector has done a fantastic job helping young people continue their studies during this challenging time.
“This innovative partnershipwithWorldSkillsUK andNCFEwill ensure young people receive the best vocational training possible and help
businesses have access to the talented workforce they need to rebuild after Covid-19.”
“I look forward to hearingmore about this exciting project.”
The initial three-year project sawover a quarter of all FE Colleges apply to be part of the first year of the Centre of Excellence,whichwill see over 40,000 young people benefit fromthis training, boosting their employability skills and potential. In total 160 colleges and independent training institutions are set to benefit fromthe injection of international standards in the first three years of the Centre of Excellence.
A further 35 colleges fromacross theUK have been invited this year to join the new WorldSkillsUK InnovationNetwork andwill have access to international best practice and benchmarking to drive up standards and embed curriculuminnovationwith the opportunity to access further development support fromthe Centre of Excellence in year two and three of the pilot.
DrNeil Bentley-GockmannOBE, CEOof WorldSkillsUK added: “There has been such appetite fromcollege leaders tomainstream excellence in their training thatwe have set up this newnetwork to enable us to help ensure evenmore young people can benefit fromthe highest international standards of training.”
DavidGallagher, Chief Executive atNCFE, commented: “Skills change the lives of young people. They build self-esteemand release potential, create opportunities and build stronger communities, and are the foundation of economic and social progress,which iswhy we are thrilled to be partneringwithWorldSkills UK on this revolutionary and timely project.
“As the economic impact of Covid-19 becomes fully evident, it’s clear thatwemust do allwe can to support young people and provide them with access to high-quality education and training to equip themwith the knowledge, skills andmindset tomake themost of opportunitieswhen the economy and labour market recovers.
“By providingmuch needed investment in technical educators through the Centre of Excellence,wewillmainstreaminternational best practice into programme delivery.We are raising the bar for technical teaching and helping to create a cohort of highly skilled,
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employment-ready young peoplewho can positively contribute to theworkforce aswe strive to rebuild theUK economy. The impact of this projectwill resonate for years to come and has the potential to inspire and create the next generation ofworld-class educators and learners,whilst creating a prestige for apprenticeships and technical teachingwhich will both positively impact the economy and promote socialmobility.”
TheWorldSkillsUK Centre of Excellencewill cover four strands ofwork:
• Train the Trainer: A teamof high- performance skills coacheswillworkwith college staff to deliver a professional workforce training programme to transformthe quality of teaching, learning and assessment embeddingworld-class practices and techniques.
• DigitalWorkshops: Learning library to translate lessons fromworld-class practices available to all FE Colleges and Independent Training Providers throughout theUK.
• Developing Standards:WorldSkillsUK’s unique insights into global skills systems will be used to influence change in higher technical standards across qualifications and assessment development.
• Dissemination of global insight:WorldSkills UKwill conduct independent research to explore howother countries embed teaching excellence in their skills systems, with an emphasis on policy and practical lessonswhich can be adopted in theUK to improve standards.
DrNeil Bentley-GockmannOBE
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